You can become an American Red Cross certified lifeguard in just six days. Ridgefield Parks & Recreation is offering a lifeguard training course for students ages 15 or older. Classes run from Aug. 15 to Aug. 19 at Barlow Mountain pool and meet from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Participants must pass a pre-course skills test in order to be eligible to participate. The pre-course skills test is on Friday, Aug. 12, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the recreation center pool. Visit us online for a list of test requirements.

Sign up for our Springboard Diving Camp for children ages 6 to 16. Campers will learn front approaches, back presses, basic dives, and drills and advance individually as they master each element. Camp runs from Aug. 8 to Aug. 12 and meets from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Barlow Mountain pool.

Mad Science Camp is now available for children entering second through fifth grade. Brixology is the theme and campers will learn about different types of engineering and then team up to construct a project using LEGO bricks. They will learn about aerospace engineering while assembling a space station and more. Camp runs from Aug. 15 to Aug. 19 and meets from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the recreation center. For more information, visit ridgefiedparksandrec.org or call 203-431-2755.

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Sharon Bodner of Ridgefield in the Buick Cascada convertible she won after making a hole-in-one on June 27.

The golfer’s dream, a hole-in-one, was met and exceeded by Sharon Bodner of Ridgefield on June 27 in a tournament at Richter Park in Danbury to benefit Ann’s Place. Bodner not only aced the par-three 17th, she won a car in the process.

Bodner, a member of the Ridgefield Ladies Golf Association, won a Buick Cascada convertible from Ingersoll Auto of Danbury worth $36,645.

It’s tradition for a golfer who gets a hole-in-one to buy a drink for everyone in the clubhouse, but Bodner decided instead to donate that expense to Ann’s Place, the cancer support facility in Danbury.

“There were 140 participants for the event, so I figured at about $10 per drink that’s $1,400, but I rounded it up to a $1,500 donation,” she said.

Her ace occurred on the 17th hole, normally just over 100 yards but moved back to 153 yards away, a requirement of the insurance company taking the chance against a hole-in-one.

She was playing with Carol DeVito, Ann Powers and Judi Pankenier, all from her Ridgefield group.
“I was not having a good day and shot a 106. My handicap index is about 24. I was the last one to hit. I used my Callaway 11 wood. Unbeknownst to me, my foursome was discussing using a paid mulligan as none of them were on the green and were not expecting me to be either,” she said.

A few moments later she was not only on the green but in the hole.

She received her car two weeks later after completing the paperwork to verify it was a legitimate shot — spotters, the pro, teammates all had to sign sworn, notarized statements.

“The new car is a blast,” she said.

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English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, GED, Credit Diploma Program, and Adult Basic Education (ABE) classes start in Sept. 20 in Danbury.

Registration for Credit Diploma classes is Aug. 17 and 18 (returning students) and Aug. 22 and 23 (new students). A transcript is required. Classes start Aug. 29.

Registration for GED and ABE classes is Sept. 7 (returning students) and Sept. 8 and 12 (new students). A transcript is required. Classes start Sept. 20.

ESL and Citizenship classes registration is Sept. 13 (returning students) and Sept. 14 and 15 (new students) in Danbury. Classes start Sept. 20.

These classes are offered to area residents through WERACE and are free to Ridgefield residents, age 17 and older (age 18 for ESL). Call 203-797-4731 for more information.

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Empty and overgrown in summer with bushes engulfing its front door, the former Cumming house on Catoonah Street, purchased years ago by owners of the nearby shopping center, has long been described by neighbors as blight. —Macklin Reid photo

The derelict house on Catoonah Street beside the post office appears to be getting closer to a much-discussed, oft-postponed demolition.

“There has been a memorandum of understanding, finally, reached between the post office and the State of Connecticut,” First Selectman Rudy Marconi told the selectmen’s July 20 meeting.

The agreement should clear the way for pursuit of the “106 process,” which Marconi said governs federal agencies’ plans to demolish potentially historic properties.

“The U.S. Post Office must document all historic features prior to the razing of the building, to be put into a report to be sent to State Historical Preservation Office,” he said.

Once the consultant’s report is in, the post office could seek bids on the demolition work, Marconi said.

When might that be?

“That’s a good question,” Marconi said.

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Projections of the town’s 2015-16 surplus are nearing $2 million, but all the numbers aren’t in.

A projected surplus of $1,931,037 for the fiscal year was discussed at the finance board’s July 19 meeting. The money will eventually end up in the town’s fund balance, a kind of multi-year surplus that’s now about $13 million.

The projected 2015-16 surplus is a combination of both revenues coming in over what was budgeted and spending running a little below this year’s $135 million budget. According to financial analysis presented to the board by controller Kevin Redmond, revenues were $1,265,555 above the budget figure and spending was $665,482 less than had been allocated. Of the unspent money, $145,482 was left over in the school budget and is being returned by the Board of Education, while the remainder — $520,000 — went unspent by town departments.

The 2015-16 fiscal year ended June 30, but the books on the $135 million budget are still open.

“It’s still going to change,” Controller Kevin Redmond said that night. “These are estimates, still, because we don’t have June revenues posted yet. We’ll still be paying invoices in August and sometimes into September that relate to June and prior — we want to capture those.”

Finance Board Chairman Dave Ulmer was pleased with the projected surplus.

“It’s good,” he said. “It carries over.”

He noted that, to hold down the tax increase, the current year’s budget anticipated drawing $1,950,000 out of the town’s $13 million fund balance for use as non-tax revenue.

“It’ll cover the revenue we put in this year for tax relief,” Ulmer said. “It leaves us with more flexibility for this year.”   

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The tennis players who participated in the Friday night social gather for a photo.

A round-robin doubles social at the high school tennis courts on July 15 was an opportunity for 24 like-minded tennis enthusiasts to meet while raising funds for a cause.

The Ridgefield-based non profit Share Joy International recently collected items to send to an orphanage in Jacmel, Haiti, including furniture, clothes, food, formula, bedding, towels, canned goods, and topsoil.

The tennis social was to raise funds to offset some of the shipping costs.

The orphanage houses 20, ranging in age from three to seven.

Ridgefield restaurants and shops — Luc’s, Terra Sole, Hideaway, Ridgefield Prime, Prime Burger, Piccolos, Planet Pizza, Nature’s Temptation, Bareburger, and Squash’s — donated gift certificates which were raffled at the end of the event.

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Applications for Justice of the Peace are available in the town clerk’s office in Town Hall.

Town Clerk Barbara Serfilippi has issued the following for those interested in becoming a Justice of the Peace.

Between Aug. 1 and Nov. 1, any unaffiliated elector or minor party elector in Ridgefield may apply to the Town Clerk for appointment as a Justice of the Peace. No one who is, or has been, on the Democratic or Republican enrollment list in the town for three months before Aug. 1, and ending on the date of the appointment (during the first 15 business days of November) is eligible, per state statutes.

The Republican and Democratic parties appointed their justices of the peace in May. The law does not prevent an unaffiliated voter from joining a party after the appointment is made.

Applications are available in the town clerk’s office in Town Hall.

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Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association (RVNA) is offering a nutritional presentation, Off to College: Strategies for Healthful Eating in College and Beyond, at the RVNA Center for Exceptional Care on Tuesday, Aug. 2, or Tuesday, Aug. 9, from 7 to 8 p.m.

Those heading off to college may be worried about weight gain due to late night studying, endless dining hall food choices and the lack of healthy home-cooked meals.

RVNA’s Meg Whitbeck will share her strategies for success, including how to prepare healthy food in a dorm room using a microwave and basic dishes and utensils. The fee is $25 and is open to the public. Attendees should RSVP to 203-438-5555.

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Boys and Girls Club campers salute on the steps of the RIdgefield Police Department’s headquarters during their first day of the Junior Police Academy.

The Ridgefield Police Department and the Boys and Girls Club kicked off their week-long Junior Police Academy Monday, July 25. The program, which was started by Lt. Shawn Platt in 2003, introduces clubgoers to what a police officer does, including crime scene investigation, accident reconstruction, laser/radar, and police K-9.

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Two Youth Commission members, Denise Qualey and Mark Robinson, were re-appointed by the Board of Selectmen on a 4-0 vote July 20.

Qualey, the commission’s chairwoman, told the selectmen she thought the transition of The Barn teen center to the Boys and Girls Club, which plans for more hours, would work well despite some initial skepticism from the teens who go to The Barn.

“I think the kids are all on board now,” Qualey said.

She said the Youth Commission tried to address a wide range of needs —  substance abuse, “LGBT concerns,” crisis intervention.

“We’ve added a lot of services and resources for kids and families,” she said.

The commission is supposed to have 16 members with three or four seats for youth members, but has vacancies for both adults and teens. Anyone interested may call the first selectman’s office at 203-431-2774 or e-mail selectman@ridgefieldct.org.

The commission has had a hard time getting teens to serve.

“We are trying to recruit,” Qualey said. “The kids are booked, they’re busy.”

Robinson did not appear but notified the board he hoped to continue serving.

The commission meets the third Wednesday of the month at The Barn on Governor Street. “Open to everybody,” Qualey said.

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This is a reminder for all you Baby Boomers. When you turn 65 you are required to enroll in Medicare Part A. If you are still working and covered under an insurance plan provided by your employer, you can postpone enrolling in Medicare Part B until you retire, but you are still required to activate your Medicare Part A. This is a very simple process and can be completed online by going to the Medicare.gov website or you can call Tony Phillips at The Ridgefield Department of Social Services at 203-431-2777 and he will be happy to assist you.

The enrollment period begins three months before the month of your 65th birthday and extends for three months after. If you do not enroll during this period, even if you are still covered under your employer’s insurance, you risk future financial penalties.

When you have Medicare Part A, you should get a book from the United States Government entitled Medicare & You. They publish it every year. Do not throw it out. It is full of information about Medicare & Medicaid. It is easy to read and is a good reference book.

See you in two weeks, Chris.

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Daniel O’Grady with former Governor Jodi Rell.

Daniel O’Grady, candidate for the regional probate judge vacancy in the northern Fairfield court, has been endorsed by former Governor Jodi Rell.

“I have had the privilege of knowing Dan O’Grady for over 25 years. His integrity and honesty are qualities I admire and respect. He has the experience, knowledge and compassion necessary to be the next Northern Fairfield County Probate Court Judge,” Rell said.

The court serves Ridgefield, Redding, Newtown, and Bethel.

The current judge, Joseph Egan of Ridgefield, is retiring this fall. O’Grady will face off in a Republican primary against Ridgefield attorney Patrick Walsh on Aug. 9 in the four towns. The primary winner will be the Republican candidate.   

O’Grady, the current treasurer of the Town of Bethel, has been an attorney for 31 years and was Bethel’s probate judge for 20 years before the consolidation of the probate system.

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The intersection of Main and Prospect Street.

Arriving with three different versions of how Main Street might be improved — turning lanes added, sidewalks realigned, some trees taken out, some replaced —  state Department of Transportation officials left a discussion with about 20 Ridgefielders Wednesday night, July 27, considering a different approach: Realign the CVS shopping center driveway to be directly across from Prospect Street, synchronize all three lights — Prospect, Catoonah and Governor — and see if that doesn’t improve traffic flow enough to make the other changes unnecessary.

DOT project manager Mike Calabrese said he would ask state traffic analysts to look at this proposal and see if they thought it would result in substantial flow improvements.

State officials also said they’d look into suggestions that Bailey Avenue be changed. The initial idea put forward by architect John Kinnear was to reverse Bailey’s one-way direction from the current east off Main then north to Prospect Street, making cars instead enter south off Prospect and turn west to go up to Main Street. This would eliminate the need for a turning lane, since cars could no longer enter Bailey Avenue from Main Street.

That discussion led to talk of closing off the intersection of Bailey Avenue and Main Street to cars altogether, making the area between Town Hall and Books on the Common a pedestrian mall. Under this idea, Bailey Avenue would then become a two-way street from Prospect up to the parking lot driveway behind town hall.

Another idea the state DOT people said they’d study was First Selectman Rudy Marconi’s suggestion of putting in a walk/don’t walk light at the mid-block crosswalk by the Conservatory of Dance, to be coordinated so that it would give pedestrians the green ‘walk’ sign only when the to-be-coordinated lights on either side — at the Prospect Street intersection to the north and the Catoonah and Bailey intersection to the south — are also showing pedestrians the green/walk signal. Mr. Calabrese said the state would not consider that spot for a crosswalk light with a button that could stop traffic, and that’s not what Marconi’s envisioned, anyway.

One plan showed 13 trees being removed, with nine to remain, on the east side of Main Street between Governor and Prospect Street. In discussions, the state planners also asked the crowd what they thought of saving more trees by giving up the parking spaces along the street.

John Katz, a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission who attended as a private citizen, summed up the group’s resistance to the idea of adding lanes and taking out trees on Main Street to achieve some better flow for through traffic.

“You’re talking about inconvenience, and the decimation of Main Street as we know it,” he said. “To me, it’s not even close.”

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Joyce and Dante Ligi pose for a photo on a bench in front of Town Hall. Joyce Ligi was named Rotary Club Citizen of the Year. — Thomas Nash photo

Since 1959, the Rotary Club’s Citizen of the Year award acknowledges an outstanding citizen in the Ridgefield community who, in the words of Rotarian Bill Wyman, has made “a significant impact on the community with at least three different organizations,” and who exemplifies the Rotary motto “Service Above Self.” This year’s recipient, Joyce Ligi, fits the criteria.

Joyce is a home-grown recipient, having graduated from Ridgefield High School before attending Williams College School of Banking. After graduating college, Joyce moved back to Ridgefield and went on to a career in banking, retiring in 2010 from Fairfield County Bank as senior vice president of community relations. Describing her time growing up in Ridgefield, Joyce says “life was simpler then. Everyone knew each other and had a great sense of neighborly love.” Joyce and her husband, Dante, plan to remain in Ridgefield.

Joyce got an interest in serving the community after she was asked to be treasurer for the Little League in 1985. Since then, she has committed herself to a life of community service for various organizations. For Joyce, the rewards of community service are two-fold. Primarily, she loves the feeling of being useful and helpful. But secondly, she also values community service as a wonderful opportunity to connect with others. In Joyce’s words, community service “opens up so many doors.”

Joyce has worked with the Salvation Army, the Ridgefield Community Center, the Ridgefield Library, the Danbury Chapter of the American Red Cross and Danbury Hospital, among many other organizations. When asked whether she had a particular memory that struck her as especially rewarding during her life of community service, Joyce said, “It’s a wonderful feeling to see these organizations grow. I feel very privileged to be a part of this growing process.”

Before this year, Joyce had been a recipient of more than a dozen awards for community service. Some of these awards include the Boy Scouts of America Good Scout Award, Volunteer of the Year Award for the Ridgefield Lions Club in 2003, and the 2014 Ridgefield Old Timers Lifetime Achievement Award. Despite the myriad accolades and awards Joyce has received during her time as a Ridgefield resident, receiving the Citizen of the Year award was both exciting and humbling for her.

Rotary’s 75th

Joyce isn’t the only one that finds this year particularly special. The organization that named Joyce citizen of the year also has reason to celebrate themselves. This year, the Ridgefield Rotary Club observes its 75th anniversary.

The Rotary Club is a humanitarian service organization that has both a local and an international voice. The Rotary Club focuses on a four-pronged initiative to improve the world: peace, health, water and sanitation, and literacy. The Ridgefield Rotary Club has tackled issues related to these four themes throughout its 75 years.

An example is the Sky’s the Limit Accessible Playground at the Ridgefield Recreation Center that encourages children to play outdoors. The Ridgefield Rotary Club has also partnered with two Rotary Clubs in Africa to build water and sanitation facilities at two schools being run by two Ridgefielders, Isaac Hirt-Manheimer and Brian Ash. The club also provides graduating Ridgefield High School seniors with more than $250,000 in scholarships.

So now that the Rotary Club has reached this important milestone, how will the club be celebrating? To this question, Wyman responded, “Keep doing what we do.”

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Hot summer air has pushed Thursday night’s CHIRP concert featuring the John Jorgenson Bluegrass Band inside to the Ridgefield Playhouse.

Selectwoman Barbara Manners made the announcement earlier in the day, noting that the concert would still take place at its scheduled time of 7 p.m.

The John Jorgenson Bluegrass Band features four legendary musicians:  John Jorgenson on guitar, mandolin and vocals; Herb Pedersen on banjo, guitar and vocals; Jon Randall on guitar and vocals; and Mark Fain on bass.

Jorgenson and Pedersen are founders (with Chris Hillman, formerly of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers) of the formative country rock band:  Desert Rose Band.

Music virtuoso John Jorgenson, known for his blistering guitar and mandolin licks and mastery of a broad musical palette, has earned a reputation as a world-class musician, as evidenced by his collaborations with Earl Scruggs, Bonnie Raitt, Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti, Bob Dylan and many others.

In 2008, Jorgenson won a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental with Brad Paisley and received a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album with Earl Scruggs. Jorgenson, who has played with Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Jim and Jesse, David Grisman and others, has enjoyed a successful career with the Desert Rose Band and the Hellecasters; as a member of Elton John’s band for six years; and most recently, in his John Jorgenson Quintet and John Jorgenson Electric Band configurations.  One of the elite Gypsy Jazz players in the world, Jorgenson portrayed Django Reinhardt in the Hollywood feature film Head in the Clouds.

Typically, CHIRP concerts are held in Ridgefield’s Ballard Park.

The Ridgefield Playhouse is located at 80 East Ridge Road.

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Stormy clouds carrying heavy rain are approaching RIdgefield tonight and will create dangerous driving conditions Friday morning into tomorrow afternoon.

 

National Weather Service Meteorologist Gary Conte has advised Ridgefield’s deputy emergency manager that low pressure has been forecasted to intensify as it moves northeast across the area late Thursday night into Friday afternoon.

“There is forecast uncertainty regarding the low’s track and rate of intensification,” he said in an email to Dick Aarons Thursday afternoon.

The forecast includes westbound heavy rain and north of the low’s track with the potential for flash flooding, mainly of low lying poor drainage areas.

Storm total rainfall is predicted to be two to four inches is likely with isolated higher amounts.

“Maximum estimated hourly rainfall rates of at least two inches are possible,” Conte said.

He added that Flash Flood Watch has been issued for the entire local area from 8 p.m. Thursday night through Friday afternoon.

Severe thunderstorms are possible along, south and east of the track, with the potential for isolated tornadoes and damaging winds.

The Storm Prediction Center has placed our local coastal areas of NJ, NY, and CT under a Marginal Risk for severe thunderstorms:
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/day2otlk.html

If flooding and wind damage does occur, remember to submit your Storm Reports to:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/StormReport_new/SubmitReport.php?site=okx

Maintain your situational awareness by visiting your NWS web page at http://www.weather.gov/okx.

Check back into theridgefieldpress.com for forecast updates and follow us on Twitter @ridgefieldpress to catch updates as they happen during the storm. Such updates include: fallen trees, flooded roads, power outages, and car accidents.

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What is the common denominator between a mirror, microscope and lamp?  Light!  And, they are all available at the Thrift Shop this week.

There are many types of microscopes. The most common (and the first to be invented) is the optical microscope, which uses light to image the sample. Our Asahi optical microscope is perfect for summer science projects. It’s complete in a wooden box with several lenses and slides.

Mirrors reflect light and images. We have a great round mirror available. It measures about 24” across and is framed by square mirror tiles and green bubbles. This versatile design would work well in an entryway, bathroom or bedroom.

A banker-style brass desk lamp will shine brightly in any office or room. It even has outlets in its base for charging your electronics.

It’s time to start helping the kids pack for college and get their dorm rooms or apartments set.  Here’s a bright idea: the mirror and the desk lamp. We also have comforters, curtains, dishes, pots, pans, pictures and storage ideas.

The inventory at the Thrift Shop changes daily, so stop by often. We are open Monday through Friday from 12 to 4 and Saturday from 10 to 1.

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Lt. Brian Jones stands in front of the fire engines on his last day at the Ridgefield Fire Department. Lt. Jones, who graduated from Ridgefield High School in 1975, served as a Ridgefield Police Department officer from 1977 to 1987 before switching departments. He’s served the last 29 years at the fire headquarters on Catoonah Street and retired officially on Friday, July 22. — Steve Coulter photo

Fire Lt. Brian Jones has a story to tell.

Well, several stories.

That’s why he brought in photo albums and press clippings spanning his 39-year career as a Ridgefield police officer and firefighter during his final day at the firehouse on Catoonah Street.

“When I was hired by the Ridgefield Police Department on Dec. 1, 1977, I was 20 years old — I wasn’t even old enough to buy my own ammunition,” said Lt. Jones as he flipped through the pages last Friday, July 22. “I wanted to practice at the range, so I had to drag my dad up to the store in Brookfield and he had to buy the ammo for me.”

The firefighter spent the first 10 years of his career in a police uniform, collecting a bevy of highlights that ranged from scary — he pulled Francis Martin out of a burning vehicle while working the Memorial Day Parade in 1979 — to inspired, like his creation of the town’s first Neighborhood Watch program.

“I was right there at the corner of Town Hall,” Lt. Jones recalled about saving Martin from the car that suffered an electrical fire. “I saw the car smoking and they were still driving it, so I’m trying to get them to stop and by the time they did it was completely engulfed.”

A year later, after being named the department’s officer of the year for the daring rescue, the detective walked into then-First Selectman Liz Leonard’s office with an idea to curb crime in town.

He explained and outlined the need for a crime prevention program to the town’s top official, and walked out Leonard’s office with a check for $200.

“She wrote me a check from her personal checkbook to get it started,” said Lt. Jones, who was always drawn to police work, even at the age of 16 when he officially became a member of the department’s Explorer program.

The check went a long way, as the burglary rate in town dipped 21% in the first year of the program and continued to drop throughout the 1980s.

In 1985, Lt. Jones was named Ridgefield’s Man of the Year.

However, the demanding schedule of a police detective was taking its toll on him and he felt a second calling down the road at the fire department.

“I went gray fairly early,” he said. “When you rotate that type of schedule it does a job on you…

“My interest in being a firefighter never went away but my enthusiasm for being a police office did,” he said. “And that’s why I applied for the vacancy in 1987.”

Onto the ladder

Despite the fact he hasn’t held a gun and a badge in almost three decades, the Ridgefield High School graduate still gets asked police questions from his peers.

“I still feel like a cop sometimes,” he said. “When we go to a restaurant, my kids know exactly where I’m going to sit. I have to see the front door and see everybody who comes in and out, and that’s all cop.”

He’s taken those instincts with him when he rides out to a call on one of the department’s engines.

“I’m like a detective on the scene,” he said. “I can’t leave without knowing the reason for what caused it, whether it’s a small brush fire or something involving hazardous materials.”

Lt. Jones said that there’s nothing better than being a fireman though.

What’s sustained him over the last 29 years at the Ridgefield Fire Department is the look on kid’s faces when they pass by the firehouse.

“Their eyes get big as saucers when they see me standing in front of the truck,” he said. “It’s an amazing feeling.”

Ups and downs

Similar to his days patrolling the streets of Ridgefield as a police officer, Lt. Jones has had a diverse collection of memories, encompassing both life and death.

His favorite was helping to save the life of a Florida Hill Road girl who was choking and had turned blue.

“I’ll never forget receiving that call from her father,” he said.

“I knew we only had one shot at it — I knew if we didn’t get it, she wouldn’t make it,” he said. “I told her dad to turn her face down and use gravity as an ally.”

Lt. Jones recommended a couple of strong blows on the child’s back and, a less than a minute later, he heard the one-year-old infant crying.

“I tried to remain calm on the phone but on the inside I was falling apart,” he said.

Fire Chief Richard Nagle kept the recording and played it back to others at the fire department over the next couple of weeks as an example of how to handle an emergency response call.

In the decade that followed, Lt. Jones picked up another award — this time for EMT Intermediate of the Year in 2009, but believes the story came full circle in 2012 when he met the little girl during his son’s high school graduation.

“Her dad told her, ‘this is the man that saved your life,’” the firefighter said. “He was the one who really saved her, I just supplied the instructions, but it was a very cool moment.”

In addition to saving a life, Lt. Jones counts delivering three babies among the top of his career highlights.

“You don’t really deliver, you just catch,” he said.

His worst moment at the firehouse came on Sept. 11, 2001, where he was working as shift commander of five men that day.

“I’ll never forget that day,” he said. “It was the worst day of my life; my most challenging moment on the job.”

“We had guys who wanted to leave and take trucks down to New York City but I knew that was counterproductive,” he said. “So I gave my guys different tasks to do — checking the inventory of our equipment in case we needed to ship it and checking our certifications for specialized tasks, like trench rescue…

“The only thing I knew I needed to do was keep them busy.”

Plans

He knew it was his time to retire when he got a call from his daughter that he would be a grandfather in September.

“I never wanted to leave here on a bad note, and I never thought I would,” he said.

A Ridgefielder since 1968, Lt. Jones and his wife, Dorothy, recently completed a move to Margaretville, N.Y., in the Catskill Mountains.

He said they plan to spend their winters in Texas with their daughter, Rebecca, her husband and their new grandchild and return north in the summer and fall to work on their 30-acre ranch — a property they first bought after 9/11.

“Ridgefield will always be my home,” he said. “The town has always had a hometown feel and that’s why it keeps attracting so many people to it.”

Lt. Jones will volunteer at the fire department in his new town.

In addition to volunteering at the local fire department, he plans on working as a carpenter and helping repair and build things for the elderly.

He also plans to go on hunting trips with his son, Brian Jr., who’s now a captain in the Army, currently in Fort Lee, Va.

A man familiar with making a major transition, he said the most difficult part of retirement won’t be keeping busy — it’ll be staying asleep.

“I’ve been on call for the last 39 years and haven’t spent five straight nights in the same bed. I don’t know what it’s like to sleep in my bed for five straight nights but I guess now’s the time to find out,” he said.

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New Ridgefield firefighters, from left, Christopher Augustine, Matthew Behuniak, Justin Krofssik, John Pomponio and Timothy Limbos will be training locally to the end of August before attending the Firefighter Recruit School at the Connecticut Fire Academy in Windsor Locks, Conn.

Facing the retirement of two of its longest-tenured members this week, the Ridgefield Fire Department hired five new firefighters who will begin their training at headquarters as early as Monday, Aug. 1.

Fire Chief Kevin Tappe told The Press that his department had a number of vacancies to fill, which is why Christopher Augustine, Matthew Behuniak, Justin Krofssik, John Pomponio and Timothy Limbos will be joining the ranks this summer.

“We already had two vacancies which we were planning to fill, but, then suddenly, in July, two long serving lieutenants retired and one of our young firefighters left to go to the Norwalk Fire Department,” he said Tuesday, July 26, which happened to be the last day for Lt. Pete Drake, who served 34 years.

Chief Tappe explained that the department will be starting a new eight-man shift structure beginning Jan. 1, which put an impetus on getting new recruits into the state fire academy as soon as possible.

“We could not start a eight-man minimum staffing scenario with this many vacancies,” he said. “Actually, the department lost almost 25% of its line firefighters in one month.

“For a small department, that is huge,” he said.

The new hires will train locally until the end of August before attending the recruit school this fall.

They will complete the recruit school on Dec. 9 and then be assigned to shifts by the end of December.

Chief Tappe said that of the five new firefighter recruits, four are paramedics and one is an EMT.  

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Barlow juniors Drew Sennett and Andrew Schur recently opened Rock Cottage Studios, a small recording studio on Route 7 in Ridgefield where young musicians can afford to record their music. — Christopher Burns photo

Rock Cottage Studio, a recording studio located on Route 7 in Ridgefield that is run by two Redding teenagers, announced this week it would host the Rendezvous Music Festival at Ives Concert Park in Danbury on August 14.

The festival will feature several bands, “bringing a variety of genres and personas to the stage,” a press release says.

Local groups the Bobby Paltauf Band and Pampalibros will start the day off from 2 to 3 p.m., followed by other artists.

The headliner is a popular indie hip-hop artist, a press release says.

Rock Cottage Studio will donate all proceeds from the Rendezvous Music Festival to Horns For Kids which, since 2003, has donated instruments to over 300 Connecticut schools and continues to do so.

Rock Cottage Studio has put on events for the benefit of Horns For Kids in the past, including bi-monthly band nights at the Lumberyard Pub, and the occasional basement show at the Rock Cottage Studio itself.

Information: www.rendezvousfestivalct.com.

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